The Revival of Meredith Grey
by GreyLegalmistress
Summary: There is something signficant about Meredith Grey that nobody knows, but soon everyone will learn and her life will change once again. Terrible summary, I know, but something completely different!
1. Looking and Suffocation

_The Revival of Meredith Grey_

Disclaimer: Do not own any of Grey's Anatomy. There are a few characters who are my own, though.

A/N: None of the stuff in the finale happened. Meredith, Derek, and Addison are 'friends.' Derek and Meredith are still flirting, though. And medical terminology is definitely, definitely made up!

Chapter 1: Looking and Suffocation

He was looking at her again. Damn it, he wasn't supposed to be doing this. He was married, and she was his intern. His dirty ex-mistress of an intern, but an intern to be sure, and he never looked at Izzie or Christina like this. But no, Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd persisted in looking at her with those searing blue eyes that could melt you. Melt you into you gave in and went out with the attending, woke up with the attending, and even worse: fell in love with the attending. An attending who happened to be married, though he failed to mention that early on. It was only when his perfect, Isabella Rossolini look-alike wife showed up that Meredith Grey had learned this. He hadn't signed the divorce papers; McDreamy had decided to try to save his marriage with his adulterous wife. So she was learning to live with the empty consequences, but still, he was _looking_ at her. He had no right to be looking at her anymore. Seriously. She was trying to round here, to listen to Alex's presentation of a new patient, but Derek was watching her. They both needed to be watching, and listening to Alex. _Stop it._ She wished he understood. Actually, she sorta knew he did, but chose to ignore it. Such was the nature of the oh-so flirtatious, annoyingly persistent, slightly clueless Dr. McDreamy. Make that **Ex-McDreamy.** They were through, though, even if he wasn't letting go. Meredith was trying, but these blasted looks of his weren't helping anything. Finally they were done with his patient and ready to move on to another. As soon as they left the room, she could breathe again. No more of that suffocation that she felt these days around her ex-boyfriend and current boss. Or bosses' boss.

Christina Yang, Meredith's best friend, gave her a strange look as they followed their resident, Dr. Bailey (aka "The Nazi), down the hall.

"What?"

"Is McJackass being a jerk again?" That was Christina's new nickname for her friend's ex. "He didn't take his eyes off you. Seriously. He needs to lay off. You want me to talk to him? You were practically hyperventilating or something."

Meredith couldn't help but smile at Christina's new nickname, or at her tone. "No, yes, I don't know. I do wish he'd just leave me alone. He doesn't make it any easier."

Meredith was about to continue with the train of thought when they arrived at the next stop. This time, she was presenting. She stepped to the front, picking up the chart. "Dana Matthews, age thirty-four. Diagnosed three years ago with spinal meningitis and arythimic ekeinithma of the lower atrium of the heart. The meningitis was treated with a combination non-affectioal drugs that primarily worked and the patient has been on anti-laminates ever since. She checked in for reoccurrence of spinal inflammation as well as difficulty maintaining consistant pulse and breathing rates."

Dr. Burke nodded, clearly pleased with Meredith's understanding of the patient's history and the case. "So, Dr. Grey, how would you recommend proceeding?"

Meredith looked down at the patient, and thought for a moment before answering. "A series of cardiac pulse tests, especially reistams, an ekg, and a strained manastoic diagnostic. Maintain a steady stream of oxidative drugs, and depending on what the tests and labs show, possibly perform a restorative tissue dactomy."

"Very good, Dr. Grey."

Since Meredith's patient was last on the list, the interns began to scatter to do the million things they had to do.

"We'll continue this discussion later," mouthed Christina as she began to head off in the opposite direction as Meredith, who had to go set up the tests for Ms. Matthews.

Meredith rolled her eyes but nodded, knowing it was inevitable with Christina anyway. Actually, discussing it with her fellow was nowhere near as bad as _feeling_ it, or recapping Derek's sexy, I-want-you look mentally. So maybe she would be better off talking about it. Deciding to push it, and him, out of her head, she determinedly went off to start the day.


	2. Trying, or not

Disclaimer: Still don't own any of GA. Sad for me!

Chapter 2: Trying, or not

He knew it was unfair. Derek Shepherd, world renown neurosurgeon was more than astute enough to know that he was being unfair to Meredith by _looking_ at her. Looking at her like she was more than an intern, which, to him, she was. Still, he was married and he had chosen his red-haired wife over Meredith, even after she had said "Pick me. Choose me. Love me." So Derek was well-aware that he was out-of-line, but he couldn't help himself. He just couldn't. Sometimes in life people do things they knew they shouldn't, because there's simply no way around it. It was like that for him with Meredith. He wanted to look at her like he looked at Christina Yang or Isobel Stevens, but it wasn't working. Derek sighed as he walked toward the nurses' station to pick up a chart for his patient.

"Hey," greeted Addison, coming up next to him.

"Hey," he replied with a brief smile. "Any good surgeries planned for today?"

"Well, I think I have a dilotic ospatosis at 11, and you know how much I love those!"

"Lucky you. I have a craniotomy, and then who knows. Maybe a hemispheric drainage later. We'll see."

"Sounds like a good day, Dr. Shepherd."

"It does, indeed, Dr. Shepherd. See you later?

"Yup." Addison kissed her husband on the cheek and headed off, just as Meredith turned the corner, right into him.

"Oh, um, hi, Dr. Shepherd."

"Dr. Grey," he said, his eyes glittering with amusement at her use of his formal title. He loved her even more when she was like this, trying to pretend that it wasn't there, that he really was just her boss. Ha. They both knew better. Besides, so did everyone else, even Addison. Or at least sometimes. "Anything interesting going on?"

"No, not really. Just running labs for Dr. Burke. Speaking of which, I need to go get them, so I guess I'll see you around." Meredith was particularly skittish this morning after the glances he had been giving her recently.

"Bye, Meredith," he called after her, shaking his head as he gathered both belongings and thoughts for the day ahead. His eyes followed her slender figure, much to the amusement of the nurses and interns around him. What could he do? He literally couldn't take his eyes off her, but at the same time, knew eleven years of marriage couldn't be abandoned in a moment. Derek Shepherd wasn't that time of man anyway, but damn if he just couldn't stop himself. He was trying, though, right?


	3. Normal Day?

Disclaimer: Don't own any of Grey's Anatomy.

A/N: Happy 4th of July, everyone! Hope you have a good holiday and I'll try to post again soon.

Chapter 3: Normal Day?

After running around (because, after all, interns shouldn't just _walk_- that wouldn't be nearly fast enough) chasing down lab reports and uncooperative nurses and ignoring Dr. Shepherd's looks and his dazzling smile, Meredith Grey arrived back where she had started the day. Izzie and George were sitting at the station, doing some research, while Meredith stood there completing some paperwork. She glanced at her watch to check the date, only to remember the date function had broken. "Hey, Iz, what's today's date?" she asked, annoyed at her watch and at herself.

"Seriously, Mer? I mean, I know you're not always with it, but…. seriously?"

Meredith glared at her. "It was a long night with the bypass and the crazy guy on the fourth floor. Cut me a break here. Besides, my watch got screwed up."

"Today happens to be May 15th."

Meredith paused at the mention of that date, as if it held some significance for her. She took a deep breath, then penned her name and date on the form. But she couldn't stop looking at the _5/15/2006_. Wondering how it had gotten to be here without her even noticing. She hadn't, but she certainly did now. Wordlessly she gathered up her things and headed off.

"Mer..?" Izzie called after her, puzzled by Meredith's reaction to the day. She turned to George, "Do you know what the hell that was all about? Like is there something about this day? Her mom's birthday or something?"

George shrugged, totally unaware, as was everyone else at Seattle Grace. "Who knows? It's Meredith, it could be anything," he said flippantly.

"True," she replied. "Still…"

"Izzie! Leave it be. If she wants to tell us, she will, otherwise, just let it go. Maybe it's nothing."

"Okay then." But Isobel Stevens couldn't help but wonder what was going on Meredith, especially since her roommate had been just fine that morning.

Meredith walked down the hall, clutching her labs closely, willing herself to breathe. She knew Izzie and George were probably talking about her reaction now, which is why she had tried her best not to react. She failed, obviously, but considering what she was feeling inside right now, a brief pause was pretty good for her. Making sure no one was around, particularly Bailey, she quietly slipped into the interns' locker room and headed over to her locker. She closed her eyes and just put her head against the locker, wishing she had never found out what day it was. She would have been fine. _Ignorance really is bliss_. Too late now, she knew and wouldn't be able to get it out of her head for the rest of the day. "C'mon, Mer, you can do this. Just keep going." Right. Like _that_ would be easy with all the memories flooding her. Basically, she was screwed. The best she could do would be to try to keep it all inside, as usual, and fake being okay. Because no one could know what was going on in her mind. Nobody. No one could or would possibly understand, and truthfully, she didn't feel like sharing. Not this. This was too painful, too personal, too deep to let anybody know. Even Derek. Maybe even _especially_ Derek, because she could only imagine what his reaction to what she was keeping, and had kept, would be. Actually, she didn't want to do that. In this moment, she just wanted to be left in her cocoon of misery, pain, and memories she could never possibly erase. Not that she wanted to erase the memories so much, but the unending pain, that she could do without. It was like there was no stop-gap for it; no matter what she did, it all came rushing back to her. She sighed, knowing she really should be used to it already. In a way, she was. Meredith was at the point where she no longer needed tequila or pictures or staying in bed or long phone conversations to cope, but coping with it better didn't mean she didn't have to deal with it all. The intern knew this was something that would not just go away and it wouldn't have been right if it had. Or at least not to her way of thinking. Besides, at least she had the memories, right? They meant something, or more exactly, they meant everything to her, and she appreciated them, especially in moments like this. Just something to make her smile to get her through the grueling hours of her internship. So for one moment, she let herself fall back into the warmth of familiar memories and moments that she kept locked away, only to bring up when she really needed them. _That was the best time of my life_. She mused briefly, smiling at some of the thoughts which crossed her mind. _At least I have this_. And truth be told, Meredith Grey _was_ grateful for all of what she held, especially on this day. So while it could no longer be a 'normal day' (as much as interns could have normal days, at any rate), it wasn't necessarily a bad one. Just a thought-filled one, that's all. Her thoughts collected and her heart at ease once again, she took a breath, smiled and headed out of the locker room.


	4. Lunchtime

Disclaimer: Don't own GA, yada, yada…

A/N: Glad you all are enjoying the suspense. You will find out… eventually! But I confess, I'm enjoying making you all wait a little bit.

Chapter 4: Lunchtime

Around 1:30 that same day, Bailey's interns gathered out on the patio for some food and a chance to breathe. Izzie and George were first to arrive, followed by Alex who plopped down beside Izzie. "Hey, babe," he said, taking one of her fries. She glared at him and rolled her eyes, but didn't stop him.

"You're actually letting _him_ touch your food?" George asked in disgust. He couldn't imagine letting syphilis-bearing Alex going anywhere near his food.

"That's right, Bambi. She likes it too," he smirked as he winked at the blonde sitting next to him.

"Seriously, you two. Are you ever gonna grow up?"

"Nope. Not unless you mean…" He trailed off, letting the innuendo speak for itself. Izzie smacked him, but couldn't help but laughing a little bit. After all, he was very good at feeding the beast. And Izzie Stevens certainly enjoyed that.

Not long after, Christina came and sat next to George. "Ew, you're letting Evilspawn share your food?"

"See. My point. Thank you, Christina," George said in his ever-so-polite manner.

"Whatever, Bambi." Grace was not one of Christina Yang's stronger attributes. In fact, usually, it wasn't at all one of her attributes. "So I was reading about this case where a guy came in with these black, oozing pores all over him. I mean _oozing_. They had some great pictures: it wasn't normal puss, but it was like slimey, moldy, blooding goop, literally coming out of his body, and…"

"Christina! Some of us want to eat here!" admonished Izzie.

"Oh. Sorry. Did I say something wrong?" asked Christina innocently, who really could stand to talk about oozing body cavities whenever, as Burke would well attest.

"Just change the topic, ok?" requested George.

"To what? There's nothing interesting to talk about, anyway."

Izzie looked at George. George looked at Izzie. "It's nothing, Izzie. You always make a big deal out of nothing. I'm sure it was nothing."

"Wait, what was nothing?" interrupted Christina.

Izzie shrugged. "Well, Meredith…" she began.

"What? Meredith's fine. Annoyed at McJackass, but she's good," defended Christina.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Aww, aren't we such good friends now. How cute."

"Shut up, Evilspawn. Seriously, what are you talking about?"

"It's just, well, she kinda reacted strangely to the date, that's all," inserted George timidly.

Christina looked at Izzie and George like they were crazy. "You two are certifiable, you know that? How do you _react strangely to the date?"_

"It's Grey. She can do all sorts of crazy things. Or at least so I've heard," cracked Alex.

Christina glared at Alex, again. "Once again, shut up, Evilspawn. Or should I say, Mr. Gynecologist?"

"Very funny, Yang. But let's get back to the good stuff, Meredith and what the deal is this time around."

"_The deal_, Alex, is nothing." Naturally, Meredith managed to arrive at the very moment when her friends were talking about her. "Seriously, I'm good. George and Izzie, once again, are making things up. Now can we move onto a new discussion? Or should I leave so you can return to gossiping about me?" Sparks flew in her blue-grey eyes. Clearly, Meredith was more than a little annoyed about overhearing the conversation. Then again, it was understandable, given how much she had had to deal with the hospital talking about her and her love life or her mother or even the color of her socks, it felt some days.

"Sorry, Meredith, but we just thought…" began George.

"You thought what? That it was okay to talk about me, again? Didn't you get enough of that with the McDreamy episodes? Or with Addison? Or when my mom was a patient? Seriously! Has it ever occurred to you to maybe just plain out ask me? Has it?" Shaking her head, Meredith, who had been about to sit down, just took her tray and walked off. She hadn't meant to get so exasperated with her friends, but she was just so worn out. So tired of everyone around her thinking they got to know everything, when really, they knew so little about her. Putting her tray down at a table tucked away from the world, she sighed and began to eat, quite content to be away from the maddening crowd.

Back at the offending table, the interns all looked at each other in silence. "Way to go, guys. Just when she's actually feeling better, you manage to go and piss her off. Slick, really." Christina grabbed her stuff and went off in search of her best friend.

A/N: Ok, this went much differently than I had envisioned it, but oh well… It's not great, I know, but there had to be some filler at some point.


	5. Gallery Talk

Disclaimer: Still don't own GA. Duh.

Chapter 5: Gallery Talk

"Hey,"

"Hey," replied Meredith, looking up to see Christina standing by her.

"I hear Webber's doing a really cool surgery in OR 3. Lots of blood and probably some great techniques. Wanna go watch?"

"Yeah," replied Meredith, picking herself up. "Let's go."

When the two interns were there, Meredith was surprised to find the gallery completely empty. "No one's here."

"That's 'cause only we know about this surgery," Christina replied wickedly.

Meredith shook her head in disbelief, her dirty blonde hair swinging in its ponytail. "I'm not even going to ask how you found about it."

"Oh, that's easy. I'm Christina. I know everything. Remember?"

Meredith couldn't help but laughing at her friend's completely serious assertion of self-confidence.

"So, McJackass… you want me to kick his ass for you already, because he is _seriously_ pissing me off."

"He's pissing _you _off? Imagine how I feel. He's married, for god's sakes and yet he won't just leave me alone. It's just so freakin annoying, you know? Then throw George and Izzie and Alex in on top of it…" she trailed off, rolling her eyes.

"Ok, one: the latter are just three minor pains in the ass that you can very easily ignore and yell at, as you did very nicely back there. Two: they don't really count anyway. I mean, they are just interns."

"Christina, _we're_ just interns too,"pointed out Meredith, leaning back in her chair.

"But we're better than they are, you know that. I mean, my surgical skill is unmatched, though you probably are a close second. And with your bedside manner, we're the intern equivalent of the surgical dream team or something of this place. You know that."

Meredith couldn't keep herself from laughing, again. "I do kick your ass in the bedside manner department, though."

"Duh. I don't like people, remember?"

"Then it's a really good thing you decided to become a doctor."

"Minor complication. I'll learn how to deal with it." Christina shrugged it off. The two interns sat in silence for a few minutes, watching their Chief's expertise, and just enjoying the other's presence. "So there's nothing really going on, right? 'Cause if there is, I need to know. Then I can go get Izzie so you can share your feelings or something."

"CHRISTINA!" Meredith protested. "There is NOTHING going on. Has it occurred to you you're going by George and Izzie here?"

"Good point. Wanna go to Joe's tonight?"

"Sounds good. You get off at 11?"

"Yup."

"Me too."

"We should probably go do some doctor things or something."

"Probably."

Christina and Meredith headed out of the gallery, still talking as they went down the stairs. On the way down, they passed the Doctors Shepherd, one of whom noticed Meredith. Meredith looked at Christina, Christina looked at Meredith and rolled her eyes. "McJackass," she mouthed. Meredith laughed and headed off, amused as usual by Christina's astute bluntness.


	6. The Day Goes By

Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah. Don't own GA, etc.

A/N: Yeah, it's a short, really bad chapter. Sorry- I just needed some way to transition to the next one, which hopefully will be up soon.

Chapter 6: The Day Goes by

After Meredith and Christina parted ways, the day managed to go by with surprisingly rapid speed. There were labs to pick-up, tests to review, attendings with whom to consult, and coffee breaks to be had. All in all, it seemed to be a fairly quiet day at Seattle Grace: no huge emergencies arrived in the course of the day, to Meredith's relief and Christina's abject disappointment. Meredith had finally collected all of the information and test results for Dana Matthews and so headed off to see Dr. Burke. On her way, she ran into the one and only Dr. Addison Montgomery-Forbes Shepherd.

"Meredith," greeted the red-haired woman politely.

"Dr. Shepherd," returned the intern.

"Any thing interesting going on?" inquired the she-Shepherd.

Mentally Meredith went _Yes, your blasted husband is still freakin looking at me_, but luckily, she had the sense to not actually say that. "Just working on a case for Dr. Burke- arythimic ekeinithma of the lower atrium. Pretty interesting, actually."

"Surgical?"

"Looks like it. I hope so," admitted Meredith.

"Well, Grey, I hope you get a good surgery."

"Thanks. I, um, should probably get going."

"Of course."

"Bye, Dr. Shepherd."

"See you around, Grey," Addison replied bemusedly.

Walking away, Grey shook her head over the brief but bizarre exchange between herself (aka the dirty ex-mistress) and Addison (Satan, or the adulteress wife). Shrugging her shoulders, Meredith decided to ignore it and concentrate on this case because she really did want to scrub in. She finally found her best-friend's boyfriend over by the surgery board, studying the early evening's scheduled surgeries. "Find anything for me, Grey?"

"Actually, I did…" Meredith opened up her charts and began to show them to the attending, explaining her findings as she went. Half an hour later, the two doctors had agreed upon a course of treatment (which, of course, included an extensive surgery to be set for the next afternoon) and were ready to go talk with the patient.

"Good work here, Grey. You'll scrub in."

"Thank you, Dr. Burke. I look forward to that."

The two doctors went in and talked with the patient, carefully outlining their diagnosis and the treatments. Burke, as usual, was sure to let Dana know of the potential risks of the surgery, but also what they hoped to achieve with such measures. Once that was done, Burke and Meredith went off their separate ways, Meredith to check on some patients and Burke to do some paperwork. But the day was gradually drawing to a close for Meredith Grey, much to her infinite relief.

After all, Emerald City Bar with Christina was always a good time.


	7. Ring of Fire

Disclaimer: None of GA is mine. Sad.

A/N: I have to admit, I've been listening to the _Walk the Line_ cd a lot as of late, hence the inspiration for this chapter. I'm not usually a country fan (to put it mildly!), but I loved the movie and the soundtrack. Not as much as I love GA, of course (: Also, I get to try something new by using the lyrics… let me know if it works.

Chapter 7: Ring of Fire

_Love is a burning thing/ and it makes a fiery ring/ bound by wild desire/I fell in to a ring of fire..._

Meredith Grey sat at the bar, contemplating the truth of the lyrics as she gazed into her beer.

_I fell in to a burning ring of fire/I went down, down, down/and the flames went higher._

She had gotten off a little early, surprisingly, and so had arranged to meet Christina here once Christina was done. Meredith had been playing with the jukebox, and having come across the song, hadn't been able to resist it.

_And it burns, burns, burns/ the ring of fire/ the ring of fire._

As the strains of Johnny Cash echoed through the bar, Meredith couldn't keep herself from smiling, and even humming along. She did, after all, know all of the lyrics.

"A big Johnny Cash fan, huh? I wouldn't have guessed it," greeted Joe, the well-known and well-loved bartender.

Meredith shrugged. "I have to be able to surprise people _somehow_, don't I?" she asked with a laugh.

"I suppose so. Are your sidekicks joining you tonight?"

"Just Christina. The others have to work."

"Ah. Sux for them."

"Yes, yes it does."

_The taste of love is sweet/ when hearts like ours meet  
_

_How true_, she thought. _How very true_. At that very moment, two of her fellow doctors approached her.

"You're a Johnny Cash fan, Grey? Doesn't seem like your thing."

_A ring of fire, indeed. _For the second time in about two minutes, Meredith shrugged. "Old habits die hard, I suppose."

"I never knew you were a fan. How come?"

"Maybe because you never asked, Dr. Shepherd," Meredith replied smartly, still humming to the guitar, and secretly wishing the Drs. Shepherd would leave her to enjoy Johnny in peace.

"Dr. Shepherd? We're at a bar, Meredith, you can call us by our first names," insisted Derek.

"We're friends, remember? And friends call each other, typically, by their first names. So he's Derek, I'm Addison, and you're Meredith."

"Right. Okay then." Meredith began fervently wishing that Christina would hurry her ass up and show already, because this conversation had no potential to go anywhere but down.

_I fell for you like a child /oh, but the fire went wild._

At that very moment, Christina Yang, who was clearly physic, entered the bar. She walked over to Meredith, gave the two Shepherds a strange look, then sat down next to Meredith. "Ring of Fire? Seriously?"

Meredith rolled her eyes and ignored the comment.

"We'll see you later, Meredith,"

"Um, right, see you later, Addison. Derek," the intern replied awkwardly.

"What was that all about?" asked Christina.

"We're _friends_, remember?"

"Oh yeah, how's that working out? Hey, Joe. Just a beer."

"Fabulous, really."

_I fell into a burning ring of fire…_

"I'm sure. So seriously, what's the deal with this music?"

"I don't know. I had a friend who liked it in high school and it kinda grew on me. That's all. No big deal."

"Whatever. So I hear you're scrubbing in with Burke tomorrow…?"

"Yeah, should be a great surgery."

"It's Burke. Of course it is."

"But you're not biased or anything."

"Of course not, I'm a surgeon."

"Ok, Christina."

"What?"

"Nothing. I promise."

"Good."

"Good." The two women looked at each other and burst out laughing, both realizing the sheer ridiculousness of the conversation. Joe, who happened to be passing by, just shook his head

The two interns sat there for about another hour, each nursing a beer and making sure to keep close attention to those around them; after all, Joe's was a prime place for gossip material, and nobody who worked at Seattle Grace could resist gossip. After sometime, however, they decided they should probably get going.

"See you tomorrow, Mer,"

"Bye, Christina."

Meredith arrived home, glad to have an empty house for five minutes. She kicked off her shoes and headed upstairs. Entering her messy bedroom, she went into her closet, and rummaging through some belongings (of which there were many), dug out a black cd case. She leafed through it until she found the one she wanted, than threw it in the cd case. Deciding a hot bath would feel good, she went into the bathroom to fill the tub as once again, _Ring of Fire _filled the air.

The tired woman submerged herself in the warm water, letting the lavender scent (what else?) fill the air. She smiled contentedly as she listened to the depths of Johnny Cash's legendary voice fill her room, and closing her eyes, leaned back against the tub. All in all, it had been a surprisingly pleasant day, even with the nuisance named Derek Shepherd. After some time, Meredith got out of the bath, dried herself off and headed to bed, soothed by the music and easily drifting off to a sweet slumber.

_I fell in to a burning ring of fire/I went down, down, down/and the flames went higher./And it burns ,burn , burns/the ring of fire/the ring of fire…  
_


	8. Unidentified Patient

Disclaimer: Don't own GA. The new character is mine, though!

Chapter 8: Unidentified Patient

Meanwhile, at the hospital….

Izzie Stevens, George O'Malley, and Alex Karev were all on call when they were paged 911 to the emergency entrance. They took the stretcher, all the while listening to the EMTS. "28-30 year old white male, severe lacerations to face, torso and legs. Possible brain hemorrhaging from multiple head wounds, bruising and potential internal bleeding. Body temperature has been unsteady and blood pressure is low from excessive stress," rattled off one EMT. The three interns began to wheel the gurney down to take tests.

"Someone page Shepherd," ordered Alex. "This guy is definitely going to need major surgery." One of the nurses nearby went to do so, since Shepherd was the best neurosurgeon around. "Move, move, move!" Izzie and Alex frantically wheeled the stretcher to the elevator while George ran ahead to prep the necessary tests, which would be extensive given the severity of the patient's injuries.

"Do we have any id on the patient?" asked Izzie.

"None. Can't find anything," replied the EMT.

"Damn. Okay, well, we'll figure something out as we go," she replied.

About fifteen minutes later Dr. Derek Shepherd arrived. "What's going on?" he asked one of the nurses.

"Patient just came in with severe hemorrhaging. Stevens, O'Malley and Karev took him down for tests; he should be about ready for surgery." Derek nodded and went off to prepare for the surgery.

After finishing all of the tests, George, Izzie, and Alex went into the scrub room to get ready for Dr. Shepherd and explain the situation. "So what's the deal here?"

"Brain hemorrhaging in the lower right hemisphere, though the films show that it has somehow been contained. But it'll require a decent amount of repair. He actually has no signs of internal bleeding, surprisingly. Does have a couple of broken ribs and external bruising all over."

"All right, then. Let's go to it."

_Five hours later…_

The surgery was completed with no complications and the patient seemed to be doing well, considering the abuse his body had taken. "So do we have any background information on the patient? Anything at all?" inquired Shepherd.

Izzie sighed. "I'm about to go work on it, but so far nothing. The EMTs had nothing, couldn't find any records. But there's gotta be something…" Izzie being Izzie, she hadn't failed to notice the twisted and dirty platinum band on the man's left ring finger. "We'll find something, though. I know we will," she said determinedly. He belonged to someone, obviously, and if anybody would find out that information, it would be Isobel Stevens.

Dr. Shepherd smiled encouragingly, "I'm sure we will, Dr. Stevens." With that, Dr. Shepherd walked out of the scrub room.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Iz, you know the chances of finding this guy's family are like zilch."

Izzie turned on him angrily. "Ugh. That's _so_ not true. We found the last John Doe's family so why not this one? Seriously!"

"Um, maybe because the last John Doe didn't have like years of beating all over him? Not to mention there's NOTHING with this guy, except some beat up old wedding band, which probably wouldn't even come off his finger at this point. Even if did, it wouldn't do you any good."

"Shut up, Alex," inserted George. "Why do you have to go and say that stuff?" he asked after Izzie had huffed out, annoyed at Alex's cynicism.

"It's true, man. You know it just as well as I do."

"Whatever," said George, who went to chase after his best friend. He found her at the computer, looking over charts and typing furiously. "He's a jackass. We could find the guy's family, you know…"

"He is so freakin aggravating," she replied, not taking her eyes off the computer.

"He's Alex. Of course he's aggravating," agreed George. He sat down at the computer next to her, picked up one of the files, and began to read. "So what do you think happened to this guy, anyway? He's in pretty bad shape."

Izzie shrugged. "I know, it's pretty awful. It's like more than just getting beaten up, you know? Hopefully he'll wake up and we'll be able to talk to him, find out who he is and what happened. Cleary it was not just a one time thing," she answered sadly. "God, why are people so mean?"

"I don't know," replied George truthfully. "But the good thing is we saved him, and his prognosis looks good. Maybe we'll even be able to able to find his family," he said hopefully.

Izzie smiled. "Thanks, Bam." He could do nothing but shake his head and continue reading, hoping to find some clue as to whom the mysterious patient was, and from whence he had come. However, George and Izzie would be finding out about the patient much sooner than they expected…


	9. Surprises

Disclaimer: None of GA is mine, sadly enough. I do own the new character, though (: Oh, and this is a REALLY long chapter. So don't say I didn't warn you!

Chapter 9: Surprises

Meredith Grey's alarm clock went off promptly at 4:15 the next morning, loudly announcing the start of a new day, which for the young woman meant new patients, new stresses, and new annoyances. One thing that being an intern guaranteed was that you would never, ever know exactly what would be coming; be it gunshot victims, record-breaking tumors, angry video-making patients, juju from _Addison_, Seattle Grace was always full of surprises. Today would be no exception to that rule, except for one minor detail: the surprise which fate held in store would alter Meredith Grey's world forever. She stretched as she reluctantly threw the covers off and climbed out of her large double bed- the very same bed she had spent months sharing with a certain Dr. McDreamy. Not allowing herself to go there, since it would be a poor way to start the day (denial really is the best option sometimes), Meredith wondered into her bathroom to brush her teeth and to get ready for what was sure to be a long day.

By 4:25 she was downstairs, making coffee and searching for some cold left-over grilled cheese to nibble on en route to the hospital. Luckily for her, both of her roommates were still on call, which meant she had some time to herself. She stood there, sipping her black coffee and greatly appreciating the quiet. _The quiet before the storm_, she mockingly thought to herself. Meredith finished her mug of coffee, poured some more into her metallic travel mug and left. About fifteen minutes later she arrived at the hospital, surprisingly refreshed and ready. As the slender intern entered the interns' locker room, she smiled to herself.

Christina gave her a strange look. "What are you so damn happy about? Did the Easter Bunny leave you something under the pillow?"

Meredith laughed at Christina's expression. "No, no Easter Bunny. That'd be really creepy. Just looking forward to surgery with Dr. Burke, I guess. And I actually got some sleep."

"Whatever," replied Yang.

Meanwhile, Alex was talking to another resident's intern about the unknown patient who had come in and the surgery he had gotten to scrub in on. Actually, bragging was probably a more accurate word for describing the one-sided conversation. "Man, you should have seen him… Internal bleeding, bruised like Ali threw around him in the ring for an hour or two or something… But his brain, dude, it was pretty screwed up. Like, I mean _really_ screwed up. Royally. It'll be a freakin' miracle if he wakes up, let alone if he's ever coherent or anything again, even if Shepherd did perform this crazy technique, just incredible."

Unfortunately for Alex, Izzie had overheard some of his little speech. Mostly the "It'll be a freakin' miracle…" tidbit. Nonetheless, the blonde was not too pleased. "Shut up, Alex. His vitals were really strong this morning. And you don't know. He could wake up. And he could even be ok. He'd certainly be more of a human being than _you."_

"Seriously, Izzie. You've gotta stop with this optimism stuff, especially at 5 am. You know he probably won't wake-up. 87 percent of those with brain hemorrhaging in that area don't survive," opined Christina, always ready to throw in some statistics to back her up.

"That leaves 13 percent," threw in Meredith, to everyone's surprise. "So there's still a chance. You never know." At that, her fellow interns asked at her askance. "What? I'm just saying…"

"Thanks, Mer," said Izzie as they walked out.

"You're welcome. Maybe he will wake up."

"I hope so."

"I know you do. We'll just have to wait."

"Yeah. Ugh."

"Are we rounding on him this morning?"

"Yup."

The five interns exited the locker room to the hall where their resident, good old Bailey, was waiting. "Ok, people. Let's go, rounds!" Following her obediently, like students following a teacher, the group entered the room of the first patient.

Twenty minutes later, four patients had been rounded on, and the group was coming up to the mysterious John Doe from previous evening. Dr. Shepherd was already in the room, talking with a nurse about how his patient had been faring. "Good morning, Dr. Bailey. How's my favorite resident this morning?"

Bailey glared at him, not answering, then turned to her interns. "Who's presenting here?"

Alex smirked, then began diagnosing the problems and explaining how they had gone about treating them and what would be needed in the future to sustain the man's life. Meredith, who had been lingering near the back, moved closer and finally got a glimpse of the patient. The man was lying there, cold and still, a handsome face marred by ugly bruises and scarring. Someone had shaved his face recently and his hair obviously had been cut for the surgery. Arms were limp and unfeeling, hands scratched and grey and damaged, with only the dull platinum giving any light or sign of life. When she saw him there, so helpless and so battered, she couldn't help but let out a gasp. This was probably the worst shape she'd even seen anybody in, even worse than the rape victim, Allison, who had had her shoes. Then again, this was different. Because it wasn't just another patient.

At the sound of her startled gasp (which Meredith hadn't realized had been out loud), Bailey turned to her. "You got a problem, Grey?"

All of a sudden, Meredith couldn't find her voice. She just couldn't. The only thing she could do was push Alex and Izzie out of the way to move closer to the bed. There was nobody else there, not in that moment of complete recognition. Her blue-grey eyes went totally wide with shock, but with something else, also. Relief, the type that comes only when you know you can really, truly breathe again. Now, with this man's return to her, she could. She didn't even think about it as she took his left hand and placed her delicate hands around it, her eyes nowhere but on the patient.

"Dr. Grey!" snapped Derek sharply, not appreciating the scene before him. "What the hell is going on here?"

Admittedly, everyone else was pretty damn curious about what was unfolding in front of their eyes. "I guess we are going to find out who he is after all," whispered George to Izzie.

Meredith ignored him. Ignored everyone, really. Instead, she focused on the man before her, the one she had thought she had lost forever but was who now, by some miracle, lying in a hospital bed in front of her. She closed her eyes and leaned in to whisper into his ear. "Hey, baby. You came back to me. Only you could do that. I missed you so much, so very much. I love you. _The taste of love is sweet/ when hearts like ours meet_," she couldn't help but singing that one line, hoping it would somehow reach him. She leaned back, and with one hand gently stroked the swollen cheek, totally oblivious to her fellow doctors, who were desperately wishing they knew what she had whispered.

To everyone's surprise (including Meredith's), the man's eyelids began to flutter at her touch. "Mer..?" he asked in quiet, hoarse hush, his deep green eyes immediately focusing on the woman whose name he had spoken.

Izzie couldn't help but smirk at Alex and whisper quietly, "Told you so."

"Whatever," he replied, trying to hide his annoyance at being proved wrong on such a grand and immediate scale.

Meredith smiled, laughed, and let the tears flow as she tenderly looked down. She sniffled, causing him to laugh. "I fell for you like a child/ oh, but the fire went wild," he half-sang, off-key as ever, causing her to simultaneously laugh and cry more. The look on her face was one no one, not even Derek in his McDreamy days, had even seen. "I missed you, baby," he whispered tenderly, kissing her hand.

"I missed you, too. More than anything in the world…" They smiled at each other, totally unaware of anyone or anything else in the world. After years of unasked for separation, they were together once again. Knowing the questions which were about to come, Meredith began to speak, not taking her eyes off of him. "His name is Joshua Delmante. He's 32 years old, and most importantly, he, he's …" Her voice trailed off for a moment, but she gathered herself. "He's my husband."


	10. Sound of Silence

Chapter 10: The Sound of Silence

It's been said, on occasion, that the loudest, most deafening sound in the universe is that of silence. Such was certainly the case in room 431B of Seattle Grace Hospital moments after Meredith Grey revealed the previously unidentified, formerly unconscious patient as her husband. A husband that no one knew even existed. But surprise! Here he was, and here they were, four interns, a resident and an attending standing around staring, gaping, and gawking at Meredith and Joshua, whose hands remain linked. All of a sudden, Annie O'Connor's record-breaking tumor didn't seem nearly as bizarre as what had just been revealed. Because, seriously, who would have imagined Meredith "bring-home-a-different-man-every-night" Grey to be _Mrs. McMarried? _Not anyone in that room, that's for sure. Like all of them, Meredith was aware of the silence, but also not too much in the mood to care. Not with the love of her life so close to her again after so damn long. The slender intern couldn't help but smile and smile and smile, even while those around her sought to recover their voices.

At long last, someone spoke. "Did you say _husband, _Grey? Like as in, married to you husband?" inquired Bailey, who like all of them was stunned by this totally unforeseen news.

Meredith laughed, but it was Joshua who answered. "She did, indeed. She's stuck with me. And in case she ever attempts to deny it, there's tons of photographic evidence." He couldn't keep the humor out of his voice, obviously amused, but not surprised at everyone's shock.

"Seriously?" Izzie couldn't help but asking.

"Seriously. White dress, big fancy wedding ceremony and all," answered Meredith.

Bailey nodded, trying to take in the fact that Meredith was _married._ She was certainly not the only one, however. Across the bed, with an indescribable look upon his face, Derek Shepherd was standing there trying to figure out what the hell was going on. And how he had **not **turned out to be the only married one in his previous relationship. Somehow, he felt that normally the chances of that occurring were slim to none. But here he was, staring at a woman he loved, and her husband. The one that she had totally failed to mention in their months together. So he remained silent. Totally, stone cold, his body language emitting all his rage and shock and awe and a million other emotions he probably couldn't have began to express if he tried. His silence echoed across the room.

Behind Bailey, Alex whispered to Yang, "Damn. McDreamy's _pissed off._"

"Ya think?" replied Christina in her usual manner. Both interns were shocked as anybody else, but couldn't help gossiping, even as their friend's greatest secret was revealed. Out of the interns, only George had remained utterly silent, still too bowled over by Joshua Delmante's appearance to speak.

Dr. Bailey had finally collected herself (which no one else had), and said, "Well, all right then. Grey, take the rest of the day off. Izzie will get his history from you later, whenever you're ready. The rest of you, come on now. Nothing to stare at here."

"But-" objected Alex.

"You questionin' me, Karev?" the resident asked, hands on hips, trademark glare on her face.

"No," he sulked out with the rest of them, dying to know more about his fellow intern's _husband_.

"Thank you, Dr. Bailey,"

Bailey nodded at her intern, then led the rest of them out of the room, leaving Meredith and Joshua alone. Dr. Shepherd followed, giving the couple one last long, hard, look, then turning the corner to get away from Bailey, Meredith's friends, and hopefully his thoughts.

A/N: Sorry, this chapter is kinda short, and didn't really go how I wanted it to. But oh well. Also, opinion time, dear readers… Would you rather see Meredith/Josh next chapter, or everyone else? I'm a little divided as to the order, so any input would be appreciated. And next chapter will be better, either way!


	11. Startled Dominos

Disclaimer: Don't own GA, blah blah blah. Still own Josh, though.

A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. My internet has been off recently…

Chapter 11: Startled Dominos

After exiting Josh's room, each of those in attendance went their own separate ways, filled with their own separate thoughts. Naturally, the news of Meredith's secret marriage would not stay secret for long; no one really expected it to, because there was no such thing as a secret at Seattle Grace. Nonetheless, all of them, with the possible exception of Alex who was _Alex_, wanted some time to process the information with which they had just been confronted. So off they went to try to get through a day that really was unlike any other they had ever confronted. All of a sudden, one of their own was, well, maybe not that anymore. Sure, they all had secrets, and sure, Meredith had kept her affair with McDreamy under wraps for a brief amount of time, but somehow nothing quite compared to this one. Nothing could, or would, be the same now…

Christina Yang was shocked. Like seriously, seriously shocked. So she went to find a quiet OR where she could go over everything and think. After all, it wasn't everyday that her best friend, her _person_ for God's sake, revealed a long-lost, completely unknown husband. She wouldn't admit much of this to anyone, but she was a little hurt. A little hurt that she hadn't been let in on such a huge freakin' secret. Clearly, there was an entire part of Meredith that no one, not even herself or McDreamy had gained access to. She smirked to herself as she mentally recreated the image of Dr. Shepherd's expression as Meredith announced that the John Doe was, in fact, her beloved husband. After a few minutes of mindlessly playing with surgical instruments, Christina decided to go and find Burke, partially to share the news, partially, to well, get to talk about it. _Ewwww. Great. Stupid Meredith. She's made me all girly and want to share some feelings or something because she has a husband that she failed to mention. Even though I'm her person. Damn her._ With those thoughts, she headed off to find her boyfriend.

Isobel Stevens, unlike her fellow intern, was having no trouble whatsoever expressing her thoughts. She turned to George, who like her had to go pick up some labs. "Bambi, seriously? Did we just see and hear what I think we did? Meredith, of all people, married? How crazy is that? I mean of all people… Let's be honest here, ever since McDreamy, monogamy has _not_ been her strong suit."

"Izzie," replied George, a little more sharply than he had intended. "Maybe, for once, just for once, we should leave her alone on this one. She has to deal with _everything_, literally everything publicly and somehow I doubt right now she needs her friends whining because she didn't tell us about it. Have you told us everything about your life before Seattle Grace? So why don't we just back off the gossip train for a few minutes and let her be. She'll tell us whatever she wants when she wants." George was not really in the mood to deal with Izzie, so he picked up his labs and went down the hall, leaving his best friend slightly shocked at his reaction. A/N: I've decided that Meredith and George _hadn't_ slept together, btw. That way he can actually say something like this. He felt a little bad, but right now he just wanted to think about Meredith's revelation. Just needed some time to process the idea that _Meredith_, the woman whom he loved from afar, was someone else's forever. Dealing with her affair with Dr. Shepherd had been hard enough, but this particular revelation stunned him in an entirely different way. Sighing to himself, George went off to discuss the results of the test with Dr. Bailey.

Now, Dr. Bailey had seen a lot of things, and usually wasn't surprised by anything. Displeased, sometimes, such as when she had caught Meredith and Derek naked in his car, but not out-of-the-world shocked. She was Bailey, after all. But the existence of Meredith's husband, that caught her off guard. She wouldn't let anybody know it, of course, but still, she was taken aback. Shaking her head, the resident couldn't help but wonder how this would affect everyone. Not to mention how one intern's private life inadvertently was anything but, and how Meredith would deal. Underneath her hardened exterior, Bailey did care about her interns and wanted them to be ok. She suspected Meredith would do fine with this- or at least she hoped so. With that final thought, she attempted to put Meredith Grey's personal life in the back of her mind and went to practice some medicine.

While everyone else was contemplating the turn of events, Alex went about being his usual ass of himself. He didn't really care, truth be told. Just some more gossip about Grey, that's all.

There was one more person who, more than anyone else, would have to deal with the repercussions of Joshua's appearance. Mostly, Dr. Derek Shepherd would have to reign in the emotions pursing through his body as he exited his patient's room…

A/N: Don't worry, McDreamy's reaction is coming. I just felt like it would work better separate from the others.


End file.
